I told you yesterday was a healthy day - today they had McDonalds for lunch... Ooops! :o
JAPANESE CURRY (from Bill Granger's Everyday Asian - lovely book if you like Asian food). He does pork, we do same weight in chicken thighs on the bone and cook for a bit less time. It reheats well so do a big batch. The recipe below serves 4 adults.
Heat 1tbsp oil in pan and brown 800g meat until brown. Set aside the meat. Heat 30g butter in same pan, add one thinly sliced onion, 1 crushed garlic clove, 1tsp grated ginger and cook until soft (3-4 mins). Add 2tbsp plain flour and 1tbsp curry powder (mild or korma). Cook for 1-2 mins stirring. Add 1 litre chicken stock, whisking constantly. Add the meat, 2 carrots (cut into 3cm chunks), 450g potatoes (chopped into 4cm chunks) and a peeled grated apple. Simmer for 2 hours or so until meat is tender either on hob or in 180C oven.
LENTIL/TOMATO SAUCE
From Finger Food by Jennie Maizels. I vary this depending on what veg I have - about 250g-300g squash or sweet potato is a good addition (think Annabel Karmel gave me this idea), onion, celery, carrot, peppers, courgettes are all good for the base. It's my staple freezer pasta sauce.
Fry a chopped onion, 2 crushed cloves of garlic and a chopped red pepper in 2tbsp oil until soft. Add 200g red lentils, 400g tin tomatoes, 2tbsp tomato puree, 2tsp mixed dried herbs, 1l veg stock. Bring to the boil and simmer until the lentils are cooked. Puree in blender. You may want to add a bit of sugar to sweeten the tomatoes.
Freezes well. Needs loads of grated cheese, and salt and pepper for adults. Squeeze od lemon juice too is nice.